Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report entitled, Protecting Children in 21st Century Conflict, published by Save the Children in February 2019, whether the recommendations in that report will be included in his Department's Protection of Civilians Strategy.
Answered by Mark Field
The Government is currently reviewing its global strategy on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, and is committed to ensuring that its approach benefits all civilians, including children. The Government welcomes recent research carried out by academics and NGOs in this field, and will consult with them and take their work into account as it undertakes its own review.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to publish its guidelines for supporting human rights defenders.
Answered by Mark Field
The Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN is committed to making UK support for human rights defenders more transparent. Officials are working in consultation with NGOs to publish a document setting out UK support for human rights defenders in 2019.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many arms licences have been (a) granted and (b) refused to Saudi Arabia since 9 August 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
All export licence applications are considered on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) on export licences granted and refused on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data
Currently this includes information up to 30 September 2018. Information covering 1 October to 31 December 2018 will be published on 16 April 2019 and information covering 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 will be published in July 2019.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Saudi counterpart on the detention of female human rights activists detained in that country.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve the regulation of medical devices following recent public concern about patient safety.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to the safe and effective regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom; we continue to strengthen safety while ensuring patients and the public have fast access to new, innovative devices.
While the Government considers the existing regulatory framework to be fundamentally sound, it has been instrumental in securing tougher regulations for medical devices across the European Union. The new EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), which fully applies from May 2020, maintain the strengths of the existing regulatory system, of which rapid access to market for new devices is a key aspect, whilst addressing the acknowledged weaknesses in the system. These include improving the standard and consistency of Notified Bodies, enhancing vigilance and post-market safety surveillance systems and improving the consistency of implementation of medical device legislation across the EU.
In the interim, steps have been taken to place more stringent requirements upon manufacturers. In 2016, a new guidance document was published on clinical evaluation. This sets out clearly the need to strengthen the clinical evidence on which a device is CE-marked. The information is available at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/17522/attachments/1/translations/
The MDR has further built on these expectations by introducing a higher threshold for clinical evidence before devices are allowed to be used in patients.
This will result in a significant strengthening of the regulatory framework and addresses a number of the concerns raised by the public around patient safety.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to support the work of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala following recent attempts by the Guatemalan Government to shut the commission down.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK has been a vocal advocate of anti-corruption efforts and the valuable work carried out by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to support and strengthen Guatemalan national institutions. In response, I have released a statement expressing our disappointment at the Guatemalan governments attempt to prevent CICIG carrying out its mandate. The UK also joined statements of the EU and the G13 local donor group condemning Guatemala's decision to unilaterally terminate the agreement establishing CICIG and calling on the Guatemalan government to uphold the rule of law. The UK will continue to monitor developments, through our Embassy in Guatemala, and call upon the Guatemalan government to allow CICIG to complete its mandate and ensure the security of its staff.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that UK military goods exported to Pakistan are not used (a) in military operations in Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and (b) by internal security forces or the intelligence services to monitor the activities of (i) political activists, (ii) human rights defenders and (iii) peaceful civilians in that country.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We assess all arms export licence applications for Pakistan, like other countries, against the Consolidated EU & National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. These provide a thorough risk assessment framework. We will not grant a licence if to do so would be inconsistent with these Criteria, for example where there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We also consider if there is a risk that the items will be diverted to an undesirable end-user or for an undesirable end-use. We keep the situation under constant review. Extant licences can be revoked at any time if the situation changes and those licences are no longer assessed as being consistent with the licensing criteria.
Pakistan is one of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's ‘human rights priority countries’. We are active in promoting respect for the rule of law, including through projects financed by the Conflict, Stability & Security Fund.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the Government of Pakistan in tackling cases of enforced disappearances in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
We are concerned by restrictions on freedom of expression, including the detention of human rights defenders, journalists and others, in Pakistan. The freedom to hold and express views without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction is a cornerstone of democracy. We are also concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan. The British Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs.
We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan, including on the freedom of expression and of belief. The Prime Minister spoke to the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on 17 August 2018 and highlighted the importance of Pakistan delivering on its commitments to strengthen institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law, and to advance the rights of minorities. My colleague, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed human rights in Pakistan with the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, in September 2018. I raised these concerns with the government during my visit to Pakistan in November 2017. The British Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour in full its human rights obligations.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the validity of reports of continued enforced disappearances of minorities, dissidents and others in Pakistan.
Answered by Mark Field
We are concerned by restrictions on freedom of expression, including the detention of human rights defenders, journalists and others, in Pakistan. The freedom to hold and express views without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction is a cornerstone of democracy. We are also concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan. The British Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs.
We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan, including on the freedom of expression and of belief. The Prime Minister spoke to the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on 17 August 2018 and highlighted the importance of Pakistan delivering on its commitments to strengthen institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law, and to advance the rights of minorities. My colleague, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed human rights in Pakistan with the Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, in September 2018. I raised these concerns with the government during my visit to Pakistan in November 2017. The British Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour in full its human rights obligations.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK Government takes to ensure that UK aid is not used to support military, security and intelligence authorities in Pakistan allegedly involved in the enforced disappearance of people in that country.
Answered by Alistair Burt
HMG makes robust use of oversees security and justice assessment (OSJAs) process to manage any risks arising from security and justice assistance delivered overseas.
The UK’s work in Pakistan is focused on peace and stability, making democracy work, jobs and growth and providing basic services.
Across Government, through the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) UK aid is used to support the reform of justice institutions and the development of provincial rule of law strategies, improving Pakistan’s capacity to counter terrorism, deal with organised crime, supporting the work of civilian and military agencies to handle Improvised Explosive Devices, and strengthening Mutual Legal Assistance.